NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET

xrnyc_press@unitedrebellion.com

THE DAY AFTER A LIGHTNING STRIKE SENDS SOME TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP FANS TO THE HOSPITAL, CLIMATE ACTIVISTS DISRUPT THE EVENT TO WARN: “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET”

Cromwell, CT - On Sunday June 23, in a disruption far less severe than that of any extreme weather event, notably the previous day’s lightning strike, Extinction Rebellion activists interrupted play at Travelers Championship, as Scottie Scheffler was playing at the 18th hole.

With this action, Extinction Rebellion is NOT protesting any individual or organization. Rather, the protest highlights the worldwide danger of climate breakdown. Case in point: the last 13 months were the hottest on record, with extreme weather events around the globe. The activists pointed out that natural disasters are already causing large-scale loss of human, animal, and plant life, as well as significant damage to infrastructure, property, and agriculture.

Just yesterday, they noted, at least two fans were injured due to a lightning strike at the Travelers Championship. This was of course due to increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather conditions.

WHY “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET”?

Climate catastrophe threatens everything we love on this planet, including golf. Many tournaments have been canceled due to inclement weather. Golf, more than other events, is heavily reliant on good weather. Golf fans should therefore understand better than most the need for strong, immediate climate action.

During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, actor Jeremy Strong responded to Extinction Rebellion’s disruption of his Broadway performance in Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People this past March. He said that he’d “...be a hypocrite if [he] didn’t support what [the climate activists] were saying.” Strong understands that to achieve the necessary change, we must first acknowledge the truth of the current situation.

Golfer Rory McIlroy, currently ranked #2 in the world,, has stated that he too takes climate change seriously and believes that everyone can play a part in addressing the crisis. Golf courses have long paid lip service to the need to reduce the game’s grave environmental costs, which include profligate use of water and carbon-intensive fertilizers, as well as wanton destruction of forestlands. However, the golf world’s minor interventions do not rise to the scale of the catastrophe. They are, in fact, a resounding failure.

This golf protest action and other, similar ones are the recourse of a movement that has tried all other approaches. Voting, marching, petitioning, and lobbying have all failed, and failed again. The science makes clear that the window of time remaining for drastic reductions in carbon emissions is rapidly closing, and that if we don’t make such cuts we’ll face catastrophes far greater even than what we’re seeing now. At this point, the sole option remaining is to engage in unconventional forms of protest that bring attention to the severity of the climate emergency.

DEMANDS

The world’s top scientists have stated unanimously, unambiguously, and repeatedly that in this century, global temperatures will rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) above pre-industrial levels, surpassing internationally agreed targets. Many scientists also say that climate breakdown has plunged them into a state of despair, as have the long years of having their predictions ignored. Our political, economic, and social systems have proven incapable of addressing the challenges posed by modern civilization, In which profit, industry, and consumerism trump all.

A discussion of demands and solutions requires a collective understanding of the issues. Most climate solutions now being proposed, such as electric cars, carbon capture, and renewable energy, are inadequate responses to the climate catastrophe occuring before our very eyes.

Any discussion of real alternatives is impossible without agreed-upon baseline facts and without prioritizing the most vulnerable among us. The United Nations has warned that humanity faces a “code red” situation as a result of our fossil fuel addiction. Right now, millions of people are experiencing climate catastrophe, as a result of the “developed” nations’ unsustainable standard of living. Recognizing that we must act now, Extinction Rebellion demands Citizens’ Assemblies to determine next steps.

See Twitter post here, here, and here.
See photos and videos here. We own the content linked in this folder, and you have permission to use it, with attribution to Extinction Rebellion NYC.

QUOTES

“Golf has its environmental problems, but we can’t even have that discussion until we acknowledge the fundamental realities. We are all watching the climate catastrophe unfold at warp speed. Our relatively mild disruption of the Travelers Championship calls attention to nature’s much more severe and long-lasting disruptions,” said Miles Grant, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
“Some people at this championship were injured by lightning yesterday, and It could’ve been far worse than it was. What must happen to make people get it?” asked Lydia Woolley, one of the activists at the action.
"Insurance companies are raising premiums, cutting back coverage, and leaving entire states altogether. This is only going to be disastrous for the financial markets and homeowners. We’re disrupting this event to make it clear to everyone that, just like insurance companies such as Travelers Insurance, the government needs to take the risks posed by the climate crisis seriously," said Shayok Mukhopadhyay, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

“This is so much more grave than people recognize. If we don’t act now, we won’t be able to play golf in the future, and that’s the least of it. We aren’t fear-mongering; these things are already happening all around us, every single day. It’s not a matter of prevention; it’s too late for that. We are struggling to reduce the harm and put out the fires,” said Jeff Marsar, one of the activists who disrupted the event.
“Climate catastrophe is already happening across the world right now. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen extreme floods in Florida and Texas, heat waves across the Eastern U.S., and wildfires in New Mexico and California. Millions have been displaced. It may not be happening to you right here, right now, but it’s coming your way soon. It’s five seconds to midnight, people! We have to act,” said Mark Graham, one of the activists who disrupted the event.

“The future of our planet is at stake right now. Everything is on the line. I'm sure a lot of people bet on these incredibly talented golfers. But what about the bet that humanity has placed on oil, and that Travelers placed on fossil fuels. We are going to lose it all,” said Will Regan, an Extinction Rebellion activist who participated in the action.

“We’re told that carbon capture, electric cars, and recycling will avert the climate calamities that we’re seeing with increasing frequency. We all know that’s not enough. The only climate solutions that canmake a difference are to stop burning fossil fuels and eliminate animal husbandry,” said Jack Baldwin, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
“Just a short time ago, the actions we’re now engaging in would have been utterly unimaginable, even for us. Our actions and choices of targets are unprecedented. That’s because something is wrong, terribly wrong, and we must therefore act innovatively, creatively and provocatively,” said Georgia b Smith, one of the activists who disrupted the event.
“This is America, land of problem-solving and innovation. We’re capable of avoiding climate catastrophe. Let’s remember who we are! Let’s remember that we aren’t beholden to the foreign oil companies that – with our complicity – are making our country, and the world, uninhabitable,” said Mun Chong, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

About Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action on the climate and nature emergency.

Extinction Rebellion exists because the conventional approaches: voting, writing to politicians and signing petitions, have failed. Powerful political and economic interests prevent change, as does our outdated political system itself. Our strategy is therefore one of nonviolent, disruptive civil disobedience – in short, it is a strategy of rebellion.

Climate boiling is here and now. It’s happening all around us, hitting some harder than others. Extinction Rebellion demands that all of us, especially major institutions and governments, tell the truth about the ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction. Extinction Rebellion believes that, when faced with the government’s criminal inaction, it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, through peaceful civil disobedience .

Internationally, Extinction Rebellion has been demanding that those with power act now to halt the worst outcomes of the climate catastrophe now unfolding. Unlike other climate advocacy groups, Extinction Rebellion understands that we must go beyond politics and establish Citizens’ Assemblies. Only in this way can we adequately achieve the fair and just transition we need.

Leading by example, Extinction Rebellion is fighting for a more stable, sustainable world.

actions, pressMun XRJune 23, 2024